Creative Response

Fran the Fondant
Have you ever wondered how to make a cake? It really is more complicated than many people think, but it is also so much fun. My name is Fran, and I am fondant. Everyday my baker, Suzy, uses me on her famous cakes she bakes. It fascinates me how talented she is. I have the luxury of watching her every step while she makes them.
Today, Suzy made her famous chocolate cake for her daughter’s sixteenth birthday party. The very first thing she does to prepare for baking is she preheats the oven to 300 degrees. Then Suzy mixes flour, sugar, baking powder, and cocoa together. In a different bowl she whisks buttermilk, egg, and water together. After that Suzy then takes the flour mixture and creams it with the liquids. Once everything is blended together, she adds a tablespoon of vanilla to give it a little more flavor. Finally, she puts it in the oven to bake for twenty-five minutes. That gives her the perfect amount of time to make me.
I am also specially made just like the cakes that Suzy bakes. If I am not made perfectly then I can easily crack when covered over the cake. She starts off with melting sixteen ounces of marshmallows with two tablespoons of water in the microwave. I am then stirred and put back in the microwave for thirty seconds. Suzy repeats this step until I am completely melted and pliable. That step usually takes three minutes. Can you imagine having to be stirred and heated for three minutes until you are completely melted? It can get pretty intense.
Next, Suzy will sprinkle three-fourths cup of powdered sugar on me. She then greases her hands and kneads me like you would knead bread dough. This step is very long and sticky; she kneads me for at least eight minutes. This is also when she add food coloring to me. Today, she colored me pink because the cake is for her daughter’s sixteenth birthday. Then she lets me sit on the table wrapped in saran wrap for three hours. This is my least favorite part of the day because it is so boring, but I at least get to watch Suzy bake other cakes. While I am waiting, the cake finishes baking and is cooled.
Finally, after three hours I am ready to be put on the cake. Suzy rolls me out on wax paper so I am one-eighth inch thick. She ten ices the cake with one-fourth inch thick of buttermilk icing so that I will stick to it. I am then placed carefully on the chocolate cake. The next step is my favorite because Suzy uses piping and icing to decorate me. She turns boring cakes into masterpieces. She cut out hearts and flowers out of the leftover fondant and placed them on the sides of the cake. Suzy used black piping to line the edges of the cake; she also wrote Happy Sixteenth Birthday in fancy letter.
I absolutely love being fondant because of all the ways I can make people’s days by the way I am decorated. Although it can be time consuming and complicated, I love it.